Water and Fire's Embrace
by Neon Star
Summary: The dying thoughts of Ecthelion and Glorfindel.
1. The Water's Embrace

This is a two part story, Glorfindel's will be up tonight. I hope you like it. I don't own Glorfindel, I don't own Ecthelion, and I certainly don't own the dead Balrogs, but who would want to anyways? ;)  
  
The Water's Embrace; Ecthelion's dying thoughts.  
  
It's ironic to be called the Lord of the Fountains, when in fact you are currently being drowned in one. I know I'm dying, and even as I struggle, I know that I won't make it. Even Elves will drown, and I am wounded. My shield arm is useless, having been injured in an earlier battle with the fowl demon that sinks with me. Even as I realize this, I fight, because I know no other way. I have always fought for my life, and I will not give it up so easily. But even as the fingers of my sword hand numbly tries to undo the latches of my armor, I find that I slow. Perhaps it's for the best. I know it is not right for me to think of such a thing, but I wonder why I should fight. My world is dying, Gondolin, my home for several hundred years, is burning above me. Even if I did get to the top, I wouldn't make it out of the city alive. Maybe it's better to die peacefully here then to die in battle above, but who can decide. Besides, here, only silence, and the water embraces my sinking form, comforting me, the Fountain's son. Perhaps it's for the best. I have done my part, now its up to Tuor and Glorfindel to lead them out. May they do so, or my sacrifice and the sacrifices of those of a thousand others in this city would be for nothing.  
  
Glorfindel will look for me when all of this is done, if he makes it out of this alive. No, he will make it, he's always survived, and this won't be any different. Maybe he saw me fall? He did see me fall; I saw his horrified face as the water engulfed me. Oh, Elbereth, please keep him safe; please let him not grieve too much. I can't go to the Hall of Mandos in peace knowing my best friend and soul brother would follow me by way of grief. I would fight with what power is left to me to save him from that pain.  
  
We've known each other since I was a young elfling. He's one of the first, he's the one who guarded me when I was young, and was my brother as I came of age. I love him deeply, and it pains me to think of what may happen to him yet, without me by his side.  
  
My thoughts are getting sluggish; the water's embrace seems so comforting. But I cannot leave my worries yet. What of the one who I gave my life for? I can feel that he is a link to the hope that will come, a hope that I shall not see. But I had a part in saving this hope. Even if I am forgotten with the passing of time, my people will have their hope. Tuor has to survive, his son must survive. It is no matter if I die, I die defending our last hope, a hope we so badly need.   
  
The fire from my wounds is gone; the water has taken the pain. It hurt so much when I attacked it, drove my helmet into its chest, trapped it with my legs. The fire had been unbearable. But the water, its sweet, gentle like a mother rocking her child to sleep. Oh, I'm so tired, maybe if I just close my eyes, can't see anything anyway, its so dark....  
  
My heart is hammering in my chest, my lungs are fighting to breath against the water filling them, and I care not. It is finished, and the water is taking the last of my energy from me, whispering to me of peace, a peace I have never known in my life. I can't refuse, though my heart does not wish to leave my brother.   
  
A flash of a vision comes to my mind. Before me stands a young Elf, proud and beautiful. Raven haired, with pale silver skin, and glorious gray eyes, reflecting the hope within. He shall be the one to turn our world, one way or the other. Beside him stands Glorfindel, pained, but powerful, more then he is now. Still golden haired and magnificent as he always was, but no long the lord he had once been. No, he is something more. That is the hope I sense. That dear Elfling will be the deciding factors in the future, and my best friend shall be at his side. The pain I see from Glorfindel, I pray that it will not be my passing that hurts him so, but with Glorfindel, who can decide?   
  
My mind starts to fade and the vision drifts from me. My heart is slowing, and my lungs no longer struggle. The water's song comforts me, shelters me, holds close. Its time to let go, I can already see Mandos's gates open wide, and those I have lost wait for me.   
  
I reach one last time out to Glorfindel, and touch his sweet, dangerous mind. He is troubled, but I ease his troubles. It'll be all right, do what you must. I will be waiting.   
  
My heart is beating its last. It slows, slows, no more..... 


	2. The Fire's Embrace

I'm sorry that this is so late, RL caught up again. I'm glad you liked Ecthelion's part, and thanks for the comments. :) I will say, Glorfindel is different from my regular Glor, just to warn you.  
  
The Fire's Embrace; Glorfindel's dying thoughts.  
  
I can no longer feel anything; the fire has burned everything from me. I can't see anything, for the fire took my eyes. I cannot move, speak, and soon, I will not be able to breath. Numb, that is all that is left to me. It is so strange to feel nothing, and yet everything. I thought I heard Ecthelion telling me it would be all right. Perhaps he is right. There is nothing more I can do as I plummet. I'll be dead before I hit, the fire is eating slowly through what remains of my flesh and muscles. Thank Eru, I went numb for the pain was unbearable. Now I only have to deal with the pain in my soul.  
  
Ecthelion would say this was unlike me, that I was immune to pain. How little did he know about what I hid from him. But that was only to protect him, but there is no need for that now. He's gone ahead of me, my dear brother of the soul has left me, yet his mental touch lingers. I felt no fear as I faced the Balrog, nor when I began to fall with it. I only felt peace for what I had to do, that is Ecthelion's last gift to me.  
  
Maybe it is good that it ends now, and in such a way. I die with honor, where I've felt I've had none at times. I know they tell me that I am honorable, but my past tells me else wise. I only hope I have made amends for what I have done.  
  
Ecthelion knows nothing of it, as I know nothing of his past. We have always agreed to leave the shadows be, and we have kept that agreement. It is for the best. He would have left me had he known what darkness lurks in my soul. I know I'm called the golden lord, but I'm not so sure it applies to me. My past, unknown to all, haunts me still, even now, at my death.  
  
But such morbid thoughts serve only to make me bitter. Ecthelion would say this was not the Glorfindel he knew. No, the Glorfindel he knew was cheerful, taking any burden with humor. But he does not know that he was what made that Glorfindel. I was a bitter Elf once, and a cold one at that. When I met a sorrowful Elfling on the road, my life change. Ecthelion was that child, and he turned my life around. I became more cheerful, for his sake, to save him from the sorrow that tried to consume him. In a way, he saved me too. I was once told we couldn't be separated. Seems like this is the truth, for I am now following him into death, by the same type of demon that slew him.  
  
It is amusing, however, that the hair I was named for was part of the cause of my falling. I never thought my hair was a danger to my health. If I could laugh at the thought, I would, but I can barely breath as it is. The fire must be reaching for my lungs now, and yet, I can't feel it. Am I still falling? I can't tell, not that it matters.  
  
I hope that what is left of my people, not just the house of the Golden Flower, but also the others for which I fought for, will survive. Gondolin must be remembered, even if I am not. I pray that traitor is forgotten as well, and that he rots in Mandos's Halls. I know it is not well for me to think such things, when he did it because he was driven mad by love. I can understand that, but he sacrificed us all for that forsaken love. I do pity him, only slightly, but it is there, and I find I do not hate myself for it.   
  
Tuor will have to lead them on, and I pray that his family survives. They must, for I sense what Ecthelion sensed, they carry the hope of Arda's future, and we desperately need that hope in these dark times. I sensed that the moment I saw their son, but their son is not our true hope. No, it is the one to come after him. I sometimes have visions of this child to come, and each time my heart is lightened with it. It is a brief peace, but it is a welcomed one. Sadly, I will not be here to see this child, so why would the Valar grant me such visions? It doesn't matter, for the Valar work in strange ways.  
  
My breathing has quickened, my heart is beating quicker, and I can suddenly feel the flames, the rocks below, and the demon at my side, but there is no pain. Then my soul lets go of the flesh and I soar, free. 


End file.
